Anna Munro describes herself as the “average” resident – even though she doesn’t quite tick all the boxes of a Meltonian as revealed in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest census data.
At 36, she tops the average Melton age of 33 and she was born in Poland, not Australia.
But Ms Munro mostly fits the bill as a married mother of two and home owner whose parents were born overseas.
She has Eastern European ancestry, while the average Meltonian is Australian-born, but Ms Munro said she counted herself as one of the locals.
“We migrated to Australia when I was nine,” she said. “I’ve been here most of my life and I call myself an Australian. It’s nice to have background, though.”
She moved to the area in 2007 with her husband, Cameron, to bring up their family in the newly developed Taylors Hill.
“Being able to utilise the space and facilities, especially with a young family, is the best thing about living in Melton city because the kids always want to be out and about,” Ms Munro said.
While the census was plagued with technical problems in its execution, the ABS remains confident the results are an accurate reflection of modern Australian life.
The figures also reflect the diversity for which Melton is known.
The number of Australian-born, English-speaking residents in the municipality sits at about 63 per cent, down four per cent from the 2011 census.
A majority of other residents have English, Maltese, Italian or Irish roots, with the popular languages including Vietnamese, Punjabi, Maltese, Arabic and Macedonian.
About 33 per cent of residents are Catholic, down from 37 per cent in 2011, with the number of non-religious people up from 17 to 22 per cent.
